ELA Virtual Learning

4th Grade GrammarPunctuating Dialogue

April 9, 2020

4th Grade GrammarLesson: 04/09/2020

Learning Target: Students will punctuate dialogue between two or more

characters.

Background: This is a review lesson● Students learn to use dialogue with quotation marks in

2nd grade● Students learn to use commas and quotation marks in

dialogue in 3rd grade● Students learn to punctuate dialogue with two or more

characters in 4th grade

Let’s Get Started:Watch Videos: 1. Quotations Song2. Writing Dialogue

What do you notice?

 The seagull asked, "Why don't we eat only foods that begin with the letter a tonight?"

 The fish answered, "Absolutely! Let's have avocado salad, artichokes, and acorn squash."

 "We can drink apricot juice," added the gull. "How about apples for dessert?" asked the fish.

Passage taken from Silver Burdett & Ginn English 1989

Statement: "We could have almonds," the fish said.

Question: "What about asparagus?" asked the gull.

Exclamation: "Angleworms are tasty!" cried the fish.

Using Dialogue

You may have noticed three different types of punctuation in the sentences. Below, you will find the three main types of dialogue:

Yesterday, we looked at dialogue with statements. Today, we will focus on practicing punctuating dialogue with questions.

Practice #1:Where does question mark go?Think back to the video.

● Commas separate the speaker tag from dialogue.

● The question mark should separate the question spoken from the speaker tag.

a) “She asked, What is your favorite color?”b) She asked “What is your favorite color?”c) She asked, “What is your favorite color?

Practice #1:Where does question mark go?Think back to the video.

● Commas separate the speaker tag from dialogue.

● The question mark should separate the question spoken from the speaker tag.

a) “She asked, What is your favorite color?”b) She asked “What is your favorite color?”c) She asked, “What is your favorite color?

B is correct because the quotation marks are around the spoken words and the question mark comes before the last quotation mark.

Practice #2:Where does the comma go?

a) “What time do we get the new bed” asked Gary.b) “What time do we get the new bed, asked” Gary.c) “What time do we get the new bed?” asked Gary.

Think back to the video. ● Commas separate the

speaker tag from dialogue.

● The question mark should separate the question spoken from the speaker tag.

Practice #2:Where does the comma go?

a) “What time do we get the new bed” asked Gary.b) “What time do we get the new bed, asked” Gary.c) “What time do we get the new bed?” asked Gary.

Think back to the video. ● Commas separate the

speaker tag from dialogue.

● The question mark should separate the question spoken from the speaker tag.

C is correct because the quotation marks are around the spoken words and the question mark comes before the last quotation mark.

Practice #3:Where does the correct

punctuation go?Think back to the video.

● The comma separates the spoken words from the dialogue tag.

● Quotation marks go around spoken words

a) “Which month has 28 days?” asked Jay.

b) “Which month has 28 days,” asked Jay.c) “Which month has 28 days? asked

Jay?”

A is correct because the quotation marks are around the spoken words and the question mark comes before the last quotation mark.

Practice on your own:

On paper, write the words in the speech bubble as a complete sentence. Remember to explain who is speaking and add correct punctuation.

Practice on your own:

On paper, write the words in the speech bubble as a complete sentence. Remember to explain who is speaking and add correct punctuation.

Practice on your own:

On paper, write the words in the speech bubble as a complete sentence. Remember to explain who is speaking and add correct punctuation.

Check your work:

Does yours look similar to this?

Extra Practice:Click on the picture below to create a book cover for a made up book or a book of your choice. Add dialogue to introduce the characters in the story, like below:

Even More Practice:Create a fairy tale online using dialogue to make the story more exciting! Make sure you use correct punctuation.

Self Check: Go tell someone in your home your answers.

1. Was this lesson?❏ easy, ❏ just right❏ hard

2. How can punctuating a dialogue between characters help you convey what you want to say?